psychologywikiaorg-20200213-history
Frustration
In psychology, frustration is an emotional state, with a variety of causes: * Instinctive behavior has been prevented from expression, or * drives have been increased through inactivity, or * Expectations have not been met. Frustration is a common emotional response to opposition and is the antithesis of satisfaction. Related to anger and disappointment, it arises from the perceived resistance to the fulfillment of individual will. The greater the obstruction, and the greater the will, the more the frustration is likely to be. Causes of frustration may be internal or external. In people, internal frustration may arise from challenges in fulfilling personal goals and desires, instinctual drives and needs, or dealing with perceived deficiencies(such as a lack of confidence or fear of social situations) or . Conflict can also be an internal source of frustration; when one has competing goals that interfere with one another, it can create cognitive dissonance. External causes of frustration involve conditions outside an individual, such as deprivation or a blocked road or a difficult task. While coping with frustration, some individuals may engage in passive–aggressive behavior, making it difficult to identify the original cause(s) of their frustration, as the responses are indirect. A more direct, and common response, is a propensity towards aggression.The frustration–aggression hypothesis. Miller, N.E. Psychological Review. Vol 48(4), Jul 1941, 337–342. Causes To the individual experiencing anger, the emotion is usually attributed to external factors that are beyond his or her control. Although mild frustration due to internal factors (e.g. laziness, lack of effort) is often a positive force (inspiring motivation), it is more often than not a perceived uncontrolled problem that instigates more severe, and perhaps pathological. An individual suffering from pathological anger will often feel powerless to change the situation they are in, leading to and, if left uncontrolled, further anger. it can be a result of blocking motivated behavior. An individual may react in several different ways. He/she may respond with rational problem-solving methods to overcome the barrier. Failing in this, he/she may become frustrated and behave irrationally. An example of blockage of motivational energy would be the case of a worker who wants time off to go fishing but is denied permission by his/her supervisor. Another example would be the executive who wants a promotion but finds he/she lacks certain qualifications. If, in these cases, an appeal to reason does not succeed in reducing the barrier or in developing some reasonable alternative approach, the frustrated individual may resort to less adaptive methods of trying to reach the goal. He/she may, for example, attack the barrier physically, verbally or both. Symptoms Frustration can be considered a problem–response behavior, and can have a number of effects, depending on the mental health of the individual. In positive cases, this frustration will build until a level that is too great for the individual to contend with, and thus produce action directed at solving the inherent problem. In negative cases, however, the individual may perceive the source of frustration to be outside of their control, and thus the frustration will continue to build, leading eventually to further problematic behavior (e.g. violent reaction). Stubborn refusal to respond to new conditions affecting the goal, such as removal or modification of the barrier, sometimes occurs. As pointed out by J.A.C. Brown, severe punishment may cause individuals to continue nonadaptive behavior blindly: "Either it may have an effect opposite to that of reward and as such, discourage the repetition of the act, or, by functioning as a frustrating agent, it may lead to fixation and the other symptoms of frustration as well. It follows that punishment is a dangerous tool, since it often has effects which are entirely the opposite of those desired".J.A.C. Brown, The Social Psychology of Industry (Baltimore, Md.: Penguin, 1954), pp. 253–54. Assessment *Rosenzweig picture frustration study Psychoanalytic view In psychoanalysis frustration is viewed in both a positive and negative light. On the one hand it is seen as part of a chain leading to neurosis in the sense that as we have seen frustration leads to aggression, which in turn is postulated to lead to anxiety and the operation of defence mechanismsetc. Rycroft, C. (1995). Critical Dictionary of psychoanalysis. London:Penguin. . On the other hand frustration is seen as aiding in ego development as people develop the ability to tolerate the feelings it arouses. Optimal frustration In self psychology, When a selfobject is needed, but not accessible, this will create a potential problem for the self, referred to as a "frustration" - as with 'the traumatic frustration of the phase appropriate wish or need for parental acceptance...intense narcissistic frustration.'Kohut, Analysis p. 197 and p. 139 The contrast is what Kohut called "optimal frustration"; and he considered that, 'as holds true for the analogous later milieu of the child, the most important aspect of the earliest mother-infant relationship is the principle of optimal frustration. Tolerable disappointments...lead to the establishment of internal structures which provide the basis for self-soothing.'Kohut, Analysis p. 64 In a parallel way, Kohut considered that the "skilful analyst will...conduct the analysis according to the principle of optimal frustration."Kohut, Analysis p. 199 Suboptimal frustrations, and maladaptations following them, may be compared to Freud's trauma concept, or to problem solution in the oedipal phase. However, the scope of optimal (or other) frustration describes shaping every "nook and cranny" of the self, rather than a few dramatic conflicts. In animals In animals frustration is said to occur in situations where instinctive behavior is thwarted. See also * Compensation (psychology) * Dissatisfaction * Low frustration tolerance * Mental confusion * Ressentiment * Sexual frustration * Tantrum Category:Frustration Category:Emotional states